Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA has launched a cost-cutting drive aimed at slashing expenses by half as the company continues to struggle with declining oil production and unpaid debts. The company sent to all its divisions and joint ventures a list of reforms, declaring a “national economic emergency”. The reforms, however, must not affect daily oil production in any negative way, the memo circulated in the company said. Some of the reforms involve suspending new projects that have not yet found financing and requiring joint venture partners to submit financing plans for the projects they develop. Videoconferencing will be encouraged, to replace costlier face-to-face staff meetings, and use of PDVSA airplanes and any other international transportation is to be reduced to a minimum. The state of PDVSA is the same as the state of Venezuela: last week, Bloomberg reported, Venezuelan ambassadors and other diplomats were asked to renegotiate the […]